An Unexpected Savior
by notgonnasay09
Summary: When the unthinkable happens at the Hyūga compound, help for Hinata comes at a high price...


An Unexpected Savior

By Notgonnasay09

_**Disclaimer: **__**I do not own Naruto or the song "Concrete Angel." Naruto and all associated characters are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. The song "Concrete Angel" was performed by Martina McBride, and is more than likely owned by writers Rob Crosby and Stephanie Bentley as well as producers Martina McBride and Paul Worley. The purposes of this are strictly for entertainment. I do not wish to make a profit off of this in any way, shape or form.**_

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To say that Hinata Hyūga's life up until this point in her life had been hard would have been an understatement. Her life had virtually been a nightmare. She was born into one of the most prestigious clans in all of Konohagakure no Sato. On top of that, she was the first born child of Hiashi Hyūga, the current head of the clan the head of the Main House of the family. Despite all of these advantages in life, however, her existence seemed to be one torture after another.

First, she was almost kidnapped at the age of three by the head Jōnin from Kumogakure no Sato, only to be killed by an enraged Hiashi. Next, her favorite uncle and twin brother of Hiashi, Hizashi Hyūga, was sent to Kumo as reparation for killing the Kumo ninja, which caused a further split between the Branch and Main houses, not to mention the hatred that was infused within her cousin Neji for something that was out of her control. It was around that time that Hiashi also decided to begin Hinata's training as a ninja.

From there, her life had been one that had steadily gone downhill. Her father had become more easily agitated and started blaming Hinata for the death of his brother, continuously saying that it was her fault that he died, that she should have been able to do more to alert the household of her kidnapping. This only intensified when her younger sister Hanabi was born, a feat that took the life of Hinata's mother. Obviously this final tragedy had sent Hiashi over the edge. Ever since the death of her mother, Hinata had been given special "training sessions" with her father, which was a way of saying that she had to endure two hours of constant beatings by Hiashi on most nights. The fact that Hinata enraged him further because she looked more like her late mother did not help Hiashi's temper either. The sessions would have been every night, but Hiashi wasn't near foolish enough to ever do anything that would be that severe. Every night, Hinata would wonder if this was all her life would ever be; just one beating after another, never quite coming to a close….

* * *

It was a typical Thursday afternoon with the thirteen year old Hinata. Currently, she was walking to the Ninja Academy with two homemade bento lunches. She was on her way to meet with her now boyfriend Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto had been one of the only bright spots in Hinata's life, outside of her team, her cousin now that he no longer hated her, and her sister Hanabi. It had become a routine for the young Hyūga to visit with Naruto whenever she was not on a mission. Naruto and she had been going out in secret ever since the instatement of the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade Senju. Mostly, they would just do some small things, like eat a few bowls of ramen at Ichiraku's Ramen Stand or do some light training, but to simply be in the presence of her crush made Hinata smile.

_She walks to school with the lunch she packed;_

_Nobody knows what she's holdin' back._

_Wearin' the same dress she wore yesterday,_

_She hides the bruises with linen and lace._

That being said, she still wore the same baggy jacket and ninja suit that she always wore. Contrary to popular opinion, it was not to hide her developing body, but to hide the bruises that adorned her body from head to toe. After her failure at the Chūnin Exams, the "training sessions" with Hiashi had intensified, and now she was on the border of receiving some serious injuries. Of course, she had never told a soul, not even Naruto. Mostly, it was out of fear of what her father would do if anyone ever found out. The last thing she wanted to do was to anger Hiashi even further than she would normally. So, she tried to hide the pain and hope that no one would ever find out.

As she entered the courtyard of the Academy, she spotted Naruto talking with Iruka Umino, her and Naruto's old sensei from their days at the Academy, and her sensei Kurenai Yūhi. Only a select few knew about the two Genin's relationship; Iruka because he helped Naruto identify what Hinata was feeling towards him, Tsunade only because she wanted to tease her "little brother," Kurenai because she had become like an older sister to Hinata, and Jiraiya the Toad Sage, because he was Naruto's sensei and he was a master spy – if you wanted to have something hidden, chances are you would never be able to with Jiraiya around. Naruto was currently in his trademark orange jumpsuit waiting for her. She really didn't mind; as long as he cared about her, she didn't mind what he wore.

"H-hello, Naruto-kun," Hinata greeted her boyfriend with a small blush.

"Hey there, Hinata-chan!" came Naruto's reply. He was truthfully happy to see his girlfriend. They may have only been going out for a few months, but for Naruto it had been a perfect few months. Soon after he had come back with Tsunade, Naruto had a conversation with Iruka one night at Ichiraku Ramen. While they were in conversation, Iruka had brought up the subject of Hinata to Naruto, asking how he felt towards her. Not to Iruka's surprise, Naruto had said that she was a great person and a good friend, but was confused as to why she acted the way she did. Iruka, deciding to play matchmaker, had asked Naruto if he had thought of the possibility that she liked him. Soon afterwards, Naruto had slapped himself silly and, with encouragement from Sakura – her motives were unknown, but most felt that she just wanted Naruto off her back – Naruto had asked shy kunoichi out. Ever since, the two had been mostly inseparable.

"So, Hinata, are ready for our picnic?" Naruto asked her.

"Y-yes, I am, Naruto-kun." She may have been going out with Naruto, but she was still incredibly shy and still tended to stutter and blush around him.

"Alright, let's go! See you later, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed Hinata's hand as he sped off towards the training grounds. Hinata barely had time to bow to her sensei before she was dragged off by Naruto.

_The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask;_

_It's hard to see the pain behind the mask._

Iruka simply waved them off as they disappeared. As soon as the two Genin left however, the Chūnin dropped his smile. He shared a look with Kurenai, which basically meant that they were thinking along the same lines about the young girl. Hianta was hiding something.

He had a feeling that there was more to Hinata than what was being seen. Call it his intuition as a ninja, but he suspected that something was wrong with Hinata. He had been feeling that feeling for quite a while, ever since he first started teaching Hinata at the academy. She had always come dressed heavily for class every day, regardless of the weather. He had never asked because he didn't want to pry into her personal life. Sometimes, it was difficult to see just how much pain she was in, since she was so reserved, but there were a few times where her mask would slip. Iruka wanted to do something for her, but without anything to go on, he could do nothing.

Kurenai had been thinking along the same lines. She, Kiba, and Shino would note how she sometimes appeared late to practice looking more ragged than what should have been normal. At first, Kurenai had chalked it up to a lifestyle of an heiress, but as time went on, she noticed that Hinata seemed to be in more pain than usual on some days and that, if she received an injury, she would treat it herself away from everyone else. Unfortunately, like Iruka, she knew that she couldn't jump to conclusions without evidence, and without Hinata saying anything, she could do nothing.

But, that was hopefully in the past now, so Iruka made his way back into the Academy as Kurenai left after making sure that Hianta arrived in one piece. Kurenai had noted that there had been days where her student was a little sluggish, but that appeared not to be the case today. Classes would be starting back up now that lunch was drawing to a close, so Iruka headed back into the Academy to finish the school day as Kurenai disappeared in a swirl of leaves. They never noticed a pair of white eyes filled with anger watching the short exchange from a distance…

* * *

_Bearing the burden of a secret storm,_

_Sometimes she wishes she was never born…_

As Hinata and Naruto neared the training grounds, Hianta wandered back to the events of last night. She had been beaten again, something that had happened before. She did not know what was possibly worse, though: the beatings or the fact that she could not tell anyone about them. She had seriously considered simply disappearing and never returning, or even wishing she was never born. Her life was one with very few things to live for. Fortunately for her, as soon as any thought of suicide or simply running off and never returning appeared, they were vanquished when she thought about her boyfriend. He had never given up on anything, and she had adopted that nindo for a reason. When all hope seemed lost, he had been a beacon for her.

_Through the wind and the rain_

_She stands hard as a stone_

_In a world that she can't rise above._

_But her dreams give her wings_

_And she flies to a place where she's loved._

_Concrete angel_

As Hinata and Naruto began to eat the bento lunch boxes that Hinata had made, Naruto took a look at his girlfriend. For some reason, she looked different today. At first, he couldn't quite tell just what was different, but then he noticed that part of the skin on her cheek looked to be a slightly different tone than her natural skin color. Naruto somewhat frowned at this; that could indicate that she was wearing makeup today, which was odd considering that Hinata never wore makeup and Naruto had told her before countless times that she didn't need to. Being the rather brash individual that Naruto was, he decided to ask about this new development.

"Hey, Hinata, why are you wearing makeup?"

Hinata froze at that. She had hoped beyond all hope that Naruto had not noticed that she was wearing foundation and face powder to cover her bruises today. For some reason, Hiashi had gone a little overboard the previous night and had struck her cheek. It had left a nasty and unsightly bruise, which she had tried to cover up with some makeup that a Branch House member had with her. Unfortunately, she had never worn makeup before, and so she wasn't fully aware that the difference in skin tones was that noticeable. She tried to deny it, but Naruto wasn't buying any of it. Finally, with much reluctance, she rubbed the makeup off, revealing her bruised cheek.

Naruto was visibly upset and shocked. "What happened?"

"I-i got it f-from an r-r-rowdy sparing partner yesterday during my training…" she trailed off. It wasn't the complete truth, but it was somewhat better than what she had used in the past. Naruto was contemplating the answer she gave. On the one hand, he could tell she was lying, or at least that she wasn't telling the whole truth. On the other hand, everyone had their secrets and even Naruto hadn't told her all of them yet, like the secret of the Kyūbi being sealed within him. He could tell that she did not want to talk about it. So, he decided to drop the issue for now.

"O-oh, that's okay. Just, try to be more careful, alright Hinata?"

Hinata said she would and was relieved that Naruto had accepted that. She knew that telling Naruto about Hiashi would only make things worse for her, so she had kept silent. The last thing she needed right now was an angry father trying to kill her boyfriend; Naruto was one of her most precious people now and she would die before she gave him up. She was pulled out of her thoughts after she heard her boyfriend curse while he was looking up at the sun's position in the sky.

"Kuso! I forgot that I was going to help set up for Lee's party tonight!" Naruto was going to help out with Ino, Neji, Tenten, and several others to make a party for Lee for his recovery from his surgery to fix his bones. "Sorry Hinata, I have to go help set up. Don't worry though, Neji, Tenten and I will pick you up from your compound later when the party is ready to start, OK?"

Hinata nodded, hugged her boyfriend goodbye, and cleaned up after herself before making her way back to the Hyūga compound.

* * *

Hinata had returned home to get ready for the party. She had been invited by Tenten, and it had appeared that her father approved of her going. Unfortunately, she had not noticed that he had followed her to the academy today, and now he was about to confront her.

Hinata was in her room cleaning up for the party tonight. She had needed to clean herself up, all things considered, so she had been in her room for a few hours trying to do her best to make herself look presentable. After she finished, she was making her way to the front of the compound when she was confronted by the last person she wanted to see: her father.

"Hinata! What are you doing?" Hiashi asked in a sharp tone, his voice oozing with hatred and fury. Hinata was scared; her father had never sounded this enraged before. Before she could answer him though, he roughly grabbed her by the coat and dragged her to the courtyard before unceremoniously dropping her on her bottom in the back courtyard, which was usually used for training sessions.

"F-father, I-i-i do not understand w-what is going on…"

"Don't play coy with me, wretch! You have been seeing that Uzumaki brat, haven't you?" Hinata froze at that. He had found out. Her worst fear had been realized. As her father approached her, she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was out for blood. He stopped short of her and broke into a familiar stance. "Prepare yourself, for you will not be escaping this time." Quickly, Hiashi charged his daughter and launched an Eight Trigrams Empty Palm at his daughter, who only barely dodged. Unfortunately, she couldn't dodge the hit completely, and the hit broke her arm with the force that had been applied to it, no doubt from the power the technique got from Hiashi's anger. With the break in her arm, Hinata let out a blood-curtailing scream. Neither noticed a pair of eyes watching the events unfold…

* * *

_Somebody cries in the middle of the night;_

_The neighbors hear, but they turn out the lights._

_A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate;_

_When morning comes it'll be too late._

It was about 7:00 at night, roughly an hour before the party for Lee. Tenten, Neji, and Naruto had been on their way to the compound to pick up Hinata when the trio heard a scream. Naruto and Neji immediately recognized the scream as Hinata's. Ignoring any other rational thought, both of the young men sped off to the compound with Tenten bringing up the rear. Absentmindedly, Naruto had wondered why no one else was running out to find out about the scream. Neji, however, already knew the answer. When it came to his uncle's temper, no one wanted to get involved. Despite this, Neji had never heard his cousin scream like that. Somehow, he had a feeling that something was about to take place that was only in the hands of the cruel mistress that is Fate. He hoped beyond all hope that he was wrong.

* * *

_Through the wind and the rain,_

_She stands hard as a stone_

_In a world that she can't rise above._

_But her dreams give her wings,_

_And she flies to a place where she's loved._

_Concrete angel_

Neji and Naruto stopped on a rooftop with Tenten landing beside them shortly afterwords, just above the courtyard to witness the horror of Hiashi Hyūga beating his daughter to a bloody pulp. Whether out of fear or shock, neither Naruto nor Neji seemed to be able to move as he continued to assault his daughter. He had performed the Heavenly Spin and the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms techniques on her and sent her off careening to the furthest wall from them.

Hinata knew she was in trouble. Most of her pathways had been blocked by her father, so she couldn't bring up any Gentle Fist techniques up to her defense. Several bones had probably been broken, and she was hardly able to move. She knew that she was done for; her father was preparing one of the most devastating techniques in his arsenal: the Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists. She could vaguely make out her cousin and his teammate along with Naruto running across the courtyard before being knocked back by three Empty Palm strikes. Turning back towards his daughter, Hiashi made to strike her with the Twin Lion Fists. She closed her eyes before she could see the strike targeted towards her. She heard him connect, but she couldn't feel the pain that she figured such a strike would invoke. She opened her eyes, only to be met by what she would remember as the single most difficult thing she would ever have to witness...

* * *

_A statue stands in a shaded place;_

_An angel girl with an upturned face._

_A name is written on a polished rock;_

_A broken heart that the world forgot._

The funeral service that Saturday was hard for Hinata. In the span of a few days, she had lost two of her closest family members. Hiashi had been charged with murder and child abuse after being apprehended and was shortly executed thereafter by order of the Hokage. There had been no funeral service for him; frankly, all he got was a plot in the family cemetery and a small headstone. No one in the family, Branch or Main House, mourned for their leader.

What had been difficult was the loss of Hanabi. As it turned out, she also had been watching the beatings that Hinata suffered day in and day out. Everyone else was unaware, but Hanabi felt guilty because she felt she had been partly to blame for her mother's death, but that Hinata was getting all the blame for something that was not her fault. She had been in a state of distress for a while after witnessing how Hinata was treated and was simply looking for a way to make it stop. She tried making herself stronger, hoping that her father would pay more attention to her than Hinata, but that plan backfired and instead made Hiashi angry that Hinata was not stronger.

Hanabi had looked up to her sister and had usually crawled into her room some nights just to spend the night with her. All the while, she had been continuing to think of ways to finally get Hiashi to stop. Unfortunately, it took her stepping in front of her sister and being ripped apart by Hiashi's attack in order to do so.

The funeral was relatively small. Hanabi had not had the opportunity to make any friends outside the compound, so the only people that were in attendance were Hinata and Neji, who were there to represent the entire clan who were grieving in their own way, Naruto for Hinata's sake, and Tenten for her teammate's sake. On her epitaph was the following:

**Here Lies Hanabi Hyūga**

**Born March 27, XXXX**

**Died April 6, XXXX**

**A loving daughter, a wonderful sister, and brilliant child.**

**We will all miss our Little Firecracker.**

**May she finally rest in peace.**

Hinata had not stopped crying throughout the whole funeral service. All Naruto could do was hold her and let her cry. She had lost her family and was now virtually alone in the world. It pained Naruto to see her like this, but he felt the same way when the Third Hokage died, so he just let her cry until she had no more tears to shed. She was the last one to leave the cemetery, still holding on to Naruto who offered to let her sleep at his apartment tonight so she didn't have to be alone, to which she steadily agreed. Neji was already staying with Tenten, and Hinata didn't really feel like being with her extended family right now.

_Through the wind and the rain,_

_She stands hard as a stone_

_In a world that she can't rise above._

_But her dreams give her wings_

_And she flies to a place where she's loved._

_Concrete angel_

As Hinata finally leaves the cemetery, the spectral form of her sister appears. She has a sad smile on her face, and knows what has happened. She knows that she will not meet her sister again for quite some time, but she is glad that she could save her sister.

'_Do not worry, nee-chan,' _Hanabi thinks as she turns away to leave for Heaven. _'I may be gone, but at least Father can no longer hurt you. I hope you have a good life, Nee-chan.' _And with that, Hanabi Hyūga, the second daughter of the late Hiashi Hyūga, younger sister of Hinata Hyūga, and cousin of Neji Hyūga, left this world to go to where she would be loved, escorted by her late mother.

_Fin._

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